TOMS RIVER – In Ocean County, tax appeals are decreasing at a rate of at least 30 percent each year, as the real estate market begins to rebound from the recession of the late 2000s and the devastation caused by superstorm Sandy. Moreover, since the start of the decade, property assessments have been trending closer to true real estate market values, said Carl W. Block, the county administrator.

He says there is little interest Ocean County to follow Monmouth County's lead on tax assessments.

Freeholder Director John C. Bartlett Jr. said although taxable real estate values in Ocean County are down $17.5 billion, or 16 percent, from a high of about $110 billion in 2009, the total value of property rose $1.6 billion last year after dropping to $91 billion in 2013.

"The tax base has risen ever so slightly," Bartlett said. "Most of this small increase this year, interestingly enough, is from the rebuilding of new houses. We have seen very little appreciation in value of existing real estate."

The last major public outcry over property taxes was in Toms River in 2013, when a township-wide reassessment resulted in municipal tax hikes as high as 18 percent, while other property owners saw decreases in their tax bills.

What caused the dramatic spike back then? Before 2013, the last reassessment had been in 2008. In five years, the collapse of the real estate market had devalued Toms River's tax base by $2.8 billion. Moreover, that was just losses from a bad economy. Another $2 billion had been obliterated from the tax rolls as a result of Sandy, although that loss is supposed to be subsidized through federal disaster aid, according to township officials.

As a result of the most recent reassessment two years ago, Toms River homes that decreased in value by 22 percent or more had no tax increase or had a tax reduction. About 24,000 — or about 57 percent — of Toms River's 42,000 homes did not see a tax increase at the time. However, homes that held their value or lost less than 22 percent experienced a tax increase.